Chapter Seven
Hasty Decisions

Are all the good times getting gone?
They come and go and go and come and go.
I've got a lot of friends who are stars
But some are just black holes

"And that's when she springs this crazy idea on me – adoption!" Percy fumed, finishing up what had been a half-hour story. "What was I supposed to say to that? She had that crazy look in her eyes, like 'don't you dare disagree with me, Percy Jackson, or I'll spear you in the eye with this butter knife.'"

Luke looked at Rachel and Grover; both of them seemed about as interested as he was. He was trying to feel bad for Percy – really, as hard as you could try to empathize with the person who more or less had been responsible for your death.

He had six more days in the world of the living, and he intended to use them as well as he could. But there was so much he needed to do, so many people he needed to talk to – his parents, Annabeth, Thalia…

And then there were things that just weren't lining up – he still had his old tattoo, as well as the scar over his Achilles' mark. When he'd been stabbed this morning, it fucking hurt. But right before his eyes, the wound healed up.

The Curse of Achilles made a person invincible. But hadn't killing himself cancelled it out?

"Focus, guys! What am I supposed to do?" Percy asked desperately.

"I don't know, but you'd better figure it out quickly. School needs you back in a week," Luke said, earning himself a glare.

"What are you going to do about finals, anyway?" Rachel asked.

Percy groaned. "Gods, I haven't even thought about that. I told Annabeth I'm staying here for the rest of the year…not like she cared," he added.

Staying for the rest of the year? Luke would drag Percy back to the Underworld if that was what it took. "But you've got classes. That's not exactly something you can back out of."

"Yeah? Watch me."

Sadly, Luke wasn't sure if Percy understood he wasn't really talking about school. "Well if you're staying here, then so am I."

"But don't you have classes?" Rachel asked.

Percy answered before Luke could. "Oh, John doesn't go to school. He doesn't have a job, either."

Luke glared at Percy. So that was how it was going to be. "My family situation wasn't ideal," he said, not lying. "I'll tell you about it sometime, Rachel. Promise." So maybe that was a lie.

The doorbell rang. Luke jumped up to get it, desperate for a reprieve from Percy's pity party.

Nico di Angelo.

Fuck.

Nico looked at Luke, blinked, rubbed his eyes, then said, "You have got to be shitting me."

"Unfortunately not."

Nico didn't waste any time. "That's pretty strong Underworld magic," he said, grabbing Luke's hand and examining the stone on the ring. "Keeping you here and giving you a fake appearance." Luke tried to jerk his hand away, but Nico tightened his grip. "I bet my dad doesn't know."

Of course Nico knew exactly what buttons to push.

"No, he doesn't."

"So let me guess," Nico said, his dark eyes boring into Luke. "You disobeyed my father's orders, brought Percy back to the world of the living, and decided to come with just for the hell of it."

Luke had been trying not to think of it like that. "I told Percy he had a week. Then I'm taking him back to the Underworld."

"John, who's at the door?" Rachel shouted from living room.

"Just some charity person," Luke called back. "I'm going to go get pizza for supper, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he stepped out into the hallway. "I think we should go somewhere and talk."

They ended up a few blocks from Rachel's apartment at a busy pizza place. "I think we can make this work to our advantage," Nico said once they were settled in a booth. "So long as you do exactly what I say."

Luke knew he wasn't in a position to negotiate, but he could at least try to get more information. "What's going on with the gods?"

Nico narrowed his eyes. "What do you already know?"

"Tensions are high. I found this in Rachel's apartment – it was for Percy," he said, pulling the dark blue envelope he'd found on the dresser of the bedroom out of his pocket. He handed it over to Nico.

Luke had already opened and read it. The message was simple – watch your back. Obviously, Percy hadn't taken the time to read it and heed the warning. "I'd bet it's from Poseidon," he said.

Nico nodded in agreement. "Things are tense between the Big Three. I don't understand all of it." Luke was certain that was a lie. "Something about too many of their children existing at once."

"You, Thalia, Percy," Luke listed.

"There are others. Jason Grace – guess Thalia never told you about him. They moved him – Zeus and Hera."

"Moved him?" Luke asked.

Nico waved a hand vaguely. "It's a long story. Still, there are three of us, and the gods don't like that."

It made sense. Zeus had gained his power by killing his father, who in turn had rebelled by killing his father. Paranoia was bound to be high so soon after Kronos' attempted coup. Anyone else would have bought the story, but Luke was certain there had to be more.

Of course, he'd have to find someone else to get the rest of the story from.

"So are you willing to work with me?" Nico asked impatiently.

Luke didn't have a choice. "Yes."

"I'll tell my father we brought Percy back to the land of the living to…well, I'll take care of that. As for you, that magic is only going to hold for so long."

"And when it wears off?"

"You cease to exist."

Luke couldn't afford to hope Nico was bluffing. "So can I just go back to the Underworld now?"

"You need to stay here and make sure Percy doesn't try to disappear. If my dad asks, I'll think of an explanation. And in the meantime, I'll figure out a way to keep the magic strong."

Luke shook his head. "Okay, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"You'll stay away from Rachel."


Christmas was in two days. Annabeth was supposed to be in California, celebrating with her family. Instead, she was staying at a hotel because a snowstorm had cancelled all flights for the next three days. It was just her luck.

Percy had been texting her all morning, asking where she was and what she was doing. She'd been too busy at the airport to respond, but now that she was alone at the hotel with no inclination as to what she was going to do for the next few days, her resolve was weakening.

What are you doing right now? I can't believe how hard it's snowing.

Annabeth sighed. Percy sure was persistent. I'm sitting at a hotel because my flight got cancelled. I'm not going to be able to fly home for a few days, she texted. She wondered if Zach was thinking about her. If the fact that he'd only crossed her mind now was any indication, probably not.

Oh gods. What was she supposed to do about him?

Her phone chirped. I know you probably won't want to, but I'm going to ask anyway. Do you want to spend Christmas with my family? I can drive you back home whenever your flight leaves.

Immediately, Annabeth's mind formed a list of pros and cons. It would be a good chance to make sure Percy was on board with the adoption idea, as well ask make sure he understood that he needed to go back home. Yet what if going with him sent the wrong idea?

On the other hand, she had nothing to do for the next three days, and she'd always liked Percy's mom.

A small smile formed on her face. If things went wrong, she could always chalk the whole thing up to a crazy hormonal mistake. Sure, she responded.

Awesome! I got a rental car and I'm driving. I know it's snowing hard, but we'll be okay. Can you get a taxi to this address? Percy responded, giving her the address to what she assumed was a hotel in a part of town she wasn't familiar with.

Which was why she was surprised to end up at a huge brownstone apartment building. Maybe Percy had friends in Massachusetts.

The address had said he was on the top floor. What it hadn't conveyed was that the top floor was seven stories up, and the apartment didn't have a working elevator. Annabeth was panting by the time she reached the top floor.

She rang the doorbell, waiting impatiently.

A girl with a bush of red hair answered – wait, Rachel Elizabeth Dare? "Oh, Annabeth," she said. "Percy said you were coming."

"He didn't tell me this was your apartment," Annbath said coolly. "He didn't tell me he was staying with you, either."

A deep red blush crept into Rachel's face. "He's just, er, taking care of a few-"

"You're being so fucking stupid!" an unfamiliar voice shouted.

"Yeah, coming from the guy who-" Percy started to respond at an equal volume.

"Whatever. Do whatever the hell you want. I don't care."

"-last minute details," Rachel finished with a sight. Annabeth got the impression that this had been going on for a while. "Come on in."

The apartment was huge, and every bit of space was covered with art supplies, magazines, clothes, and other miscellaneous objects. Annabeth's father had offered to buy her an apartment at the start of college, but she'd insisted on getting the dorm experience. Still, the large area Rachel owned was making her jealous.

Grover was watching some reality TV show in the living room. Percy and a stranger were standing by the entranceway, looking only a few more insults away from strangling each other. "Hey, Annabeth. Are you ready to go?" Percy asked once he noticed her. "We should probably leave soon – the snow's getting pretty bad."

"Yeah, fine."

As Percy left, the stranger introduced himself. "You must be Annabeth," he said, sounding charming despite the fact that Percy had just called her by name. "Percy's girlfriend?"

"No, just…" she trailed off, not sure how to explain it.

"Stuck with him in an awkward situation?" The stranger smiled. "Been there, done that. Not with him though, of course. I'm John Oak." He held out a hand. "Here, let me hold your bag for you. It's a long walk up here."

The gesture was innocent enough, but Annabeth saw through it. "So Percy told you."

John shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with the whole starting a family thing early in the game."

"We're doing adoption."

"Whatever makes you happy, I suppose."

"But you don't think it's the right thing to do."

"I don't know, Annabeth. Like, I can't pretend to know you or your situation, but I'd be willing to bet you're scared as hell right now. And if I can tell you one thing from experience it's this – the decision you make out of fear is the one you'll regret."

Percy emerged from one of the bedrooms with a packed duffle bag. "Ready?" he asked, glaring at John. Annabeth wondered what they'd been arguing about before.

John handed Percy Annabeth's bag. "Make sure you make it home safe," he said, his words practically dripping with hidden meaning. Annabeth would have to ask Percy about him later.

"Nice meeting you, Annabeth," he said, giving her a warm smile before retreating to the living room, where Rachel and Grover were shouting at the characters on TV.

"He seems nice," Annabeth said on the way down to the ground floor.

"You have no idea what you're saying," Percy muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

Notes: Not my favorite chapter. Things you can look forward to soon: some awkward Percy/Annabeth, Rachel dealing with a jealous Apollo, and perhaps a bit more of Thalia and Nico. Give me your thoughts, lovelies.